Palestinian shot dead by Israeli forces in the West Bank

Relatives carry the body of 19-year-old Palestinian Muataz Sharawneh during his funeral in the West Bank town of Dura.

Relatives carry the body of 19-year-old Palestinian Muataz Sharawneh during his funeral in the West Bank town of Dura. (Hazem Bader / AFP/Getty Images)

Maher Abukhater

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli security forces on Tuesday shot and killed a 19-year-old Palestinian during clashes in the West Bank, officials said.

The Israeli media quoted a military spokesperson as saying that the forces were on a routine patrol in the town of Dura, near Hebron, when a group of young Palestinians threw rocks at them. The troops opened fire when one of the youths climbed onto a military vehicle, the spokesperson said.

Muataz Sharawneh, a student at a Palestinian Authority security academy in Jericho, was shot and died of his injuries shortly after being taken to a hospital in Hebron, medics said.

Sharawneh was hit by a bullet that entered through his back and settled in the chest, said Walid Zalloum, director of the Hebron hospital. Tire marks on his body indicated that he also was run over by a military jeep, Zalloum added.

Witnesses said Sharawneh was trying to hang a Palestinian flag on the vehicle when he fell and was run over. They initially thought that was how he was killed.